About a month ago, Mike Babcock was asked whether he was tempted to reunite Auston Matthews and William Nylander given their offensive history together.

Not yet, the Maple Leafs coach said.

“I tried that early if you remember, I tried to put the line back together, they weren’t ready to go,” said Babcock after practice in Vegas on Feb. 13. “When everybody’s up and running, that might happen. But until I see you’re at the top of your game that’s not what we’re doing.”

The “you” there was Nylander, and while it wasn’t a spike in performance from the 22-year-old that ultimately led to Matthews and Nylander joining forces again earlier this week — it was Kasperi Kapanen’s concussion — it might just be that the two are ready to dominate together once more.